Jargon Buster

Our Jargon Buster lists all the specialist, technical terms used in the world of lamination.
More information can also be found on our What is Lamination? page.
In addition, throughout the site wherever you see words and terms highlighted and italicised you just need to point your cursor at them to see the definition.

Carrier - Some older laminators require a carrier made from card that a laminating pouch is inserted into to ensure good quality lamination. Modern laminators do not require a carrier, although most pouch packs are still supplied with one for use with older machines. In some cases, a more "pristine" finish can still be achieved using a carrier.

Cold lamination - A form of lamination using no heat. Some electric laminators have a cold setting. Other manual laminators are cold lamination only. Cold lamination uses self-sealing adhesive based pouches as opposed to the typical low-melt pouches used in hot lamination. Some benefits include no warm-up time, no heat or electrical safety limitations in certain environments and greater flexibility when dealing with longer or non-standard formats. However, the quality of lamination in terms of presentation and durability is significantly inferior to heated lamination.

Feed/lamination width - The feed width of a laminator is an indication of the maximum width of paper that can be laminated, for example, A4, A3, A2, etc.

Four roller - A machine incorporating 4 feed rollers, which generally speaking provides a higher quality of lamination than can be achieved with a 2-roller laminator

Heat stabilisation - A stable heat level allows continuous, high quality lamination.

Heat up/warm up time - The amount of time a machine takes to reach operating temperature.

Hot roller/Heating rollers - A machine featuring internally heated rollers. This provides a higher quality and faster throughput than hot shoe/heated roller technology.

Hot shoe/heated rollers - A machine featuring externally heated rollers. Whilst adequate for many needs and offering certain price benefits, this form of lamination does not provide such good quality results as hot roller/heating rollers machines.

Lamination speed - The speed at which a machine feeds through laminating pouches.

LED/LCD indicators - Illuminated or electronic visual indicators that help to show a laminator's status.

Photo quality/photo safe - A laminator than can laminate photos or photo-quality paper without any danger of damage to the item being laminated.

Pouch - Plastic-based encapsulation envelope designed to melt when passed through a laminator and bond with the document enclosed providing total protection and enhancement. Pouches come in different thicknesses stated in microns. Generally speaking, the thicker the pouch, the higher the level of protection and enhancement for the document.

Release mechanism - Some machines are equipped with a release mechanism which makes clearing a jam very straightforward.

Reverse function - Some laminators have a motorised reverse function. A reverse function is the ability of a laminator to back the paper out rather than move the paper forward into the machine. This enables the user, for example, to clear a paper jam or re-centre the paper.

Self-seal pouch - These pouches provide a form of lamination without heat. They are peeled apart before inserting the document and re-sealing. Adhesive-based, these pouches provide a quality of lamination significantly inferior to standard pouches.

Two roller - A machine incorporating 2 feed rollers. Whilst adequate for many needs and offering certain price benefits, this form of lamination does not provide such good quality results as a 4-roller machine.

Variable speed - Adjustable speed control that allows the machine to be fine-tuned according to the type or thickness of pouch being laminated.

Variable temperature - Adjustable temperature control that allows the machine to be fine-tuned according to the type or thickness of pouch being laminated.